Six Sigma is a quality standard and improvement program developed by Motorola that focuses on generating fewer than 3.4 defects per million manufacturing or service operations. The Six Sigma Management system drives clarity around the business strategy and the metrics that most reflect success with that strategy. It provides framework to prioritise resources for projects that will improve the metrics, and it leverages leaders who will manage the efforts for rapid, sustainable and improved business results.
Six sigma tries to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising the variability in manufacturing and business processes. Six Sigma is used to improve customer satisfaction, eliminate waste and increase profit. It is a structured, data driven technology that can be applied to any aspect of business. A sigma level is the number of standard deviations we can fit between mean and the nearest specification.
If a company operates at 3.4 defects per million manufacturing or service operations it is said to be operating at Six Sigma level. It will be 99.99999998%. Usually lot of companies operate between Sigma and 3 and 4 levels. Six Sigma was developed with the inspirations from quality improvement methodologies of the past, such as, Total Quality Management (TQM), Quality Control and Zero Defects. Initially Six Sigma was developed only for manufacturing operations but later on was extended to service and other type of operations also.
Six Sigma is a registered service mark of Motorola and it is reported to have saved more than $10 billion US dollars for Motorola on implementing and practicing Six Sigma. By the starting of this century it is reported that two-third of Fortune 500 organisations had began to use Six Sigma with the aim of reducing costs and improving quality. The Six Sigma approach is rigorous, requires total commitment from top management and requires a tolerance for endless questioning of validity of management’s belief.
What does Six Sigma does in company practice, it is cultural change and requires mental toughness, tenacity and highest dedication to achieve the best result. Training is the core in implementation of Six Sigma in an organisation. This methodology encourages and requires teams and its leaders to take responsibility for implementing the Six Sigma processes.
Features of Six Sigma
• A clear focus on achieving quantifiable financial returns from the particular implemented Six Sigma project
• A clear cut commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data
• Full support from top management
• A special support from trained personnel, namely Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Green Belts
Each of the people who are involved in implementing Six Sigma in the company is responsible and it varies according to their position.
Green Belts: They are the employees who are trained to implement the process and are supervised by black belts.
Black Belts: They contribute 100% of their time to make the Six Sigma program success and they operate under Master Black Belts. They are mainly involved in execution of the project and helping the green belts to reduce the defects and improve the quality of the operation or product.
Master Black Belts: They are involved in identifying the projects and they find solution to any troubles in the operation. They work under Champions Belts and supervise the Black Belts and Green Belts.
Champions Belts: They take the chief responsibility in implementation of Six Sigma projects in different divisions of the company. They act as mentors to Master Black Belts and coordinate the overall program.
Executive Leadership: Top management including CEO are responsible for setting up a vision for Six Sigma implementation.
There is Six Sigma institute giving training and certifying personnel with appropriate belts according to their knowledge and skills.
Six Sigma emphasis on the methodology named DMAIC (Define opportunity, Measure performance, Analyse opportunity, Improve performance, Control performance and Transfer best practice). The first of these (DMA) is the understanding of critical elements of the process. The last two I and C is a dynamic process optimisation. Motorola emphasise for Six Sigma to achieve breakthrough improvements in sustained and continuous timeframe, these process metrics and structured methodology must be practiced and linked to company’s strategies.
The rate of defects in the operations will determine the Sigma level offered to that organisation. If a company has only 3.4 defects for every million operations, it is operating at 99.9999998% level and earns Six Sigma. If there are 233 defects, it is Sigma 5 (99.98%) and when there are 6210 defects for every million operations it is Sigma Level 4 (99.4). Any company that is in Six Sigma program should try to be within these limits. Anything below this will earn lower Sigma levels.
There are some critics for Six Sigma program as they strictly quantitative and not taking any subjective details. As earlier said, Six Sigma was initially implemented only in manufacturing operations but later on were practiced in service operations also. Six Sigma uses statistical tool normal distribution to find the standard deviation between the process mean and the nearest specification limit to find whether the operation or product in normal or defective.
To achieve Six Sigma, organisations must focus and deploy all the resources and energy so that the key business priorities and strategy are aligned with the program’s objective. The personnel have to be trained to get the belts for implementing the Six Sigma program. Six Sigma has helped many companies to achieve their target and thereby reduce the cost and wastage and increase the profit.
Six sigma tries to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising the variability in manufacturing and business processes. Six Sigma is used to improve customer satisfaction, eliminate waste and increase profit. It is a structured, data driven technology that can be applied to any aspect of business. A sigma level is the number of standard deviations we can fit between mean and the nearest specification.
If a company operates at 3.4 defects per million manufacturing or service operations it is said to be operating at Six Sigma level. It will be 99.99999998%. Usually lot of companies operate between Sigma and 3 and 4 levels. Six Sigma was developed with the inspirations from quality improvement methodologies of the past, such as, Total Quality Management (TQM), Quality Control and Zero Defects. Initially Six Sigma was developed only for manufacturing operations but later on was extended to service and other type of operations also.
Six Sigma is a registered service mark of Motorola and it is reported to have saved more than $10 billion US dollars for Motorola on implementing and practicing Six Sigma. By the starting of this century it is reported that two-third of Fortune 500 organisations had began to use Six Sigma with the aim of reducing costs and improving quality. The Six Sigma approach is rigorous, requires total commitment from top management and requires a tolerance for endless questioning of validity of management’s belief.
What does Six Sigma does in company practice, it is cultural change and requires mental toughness, tenacity and highest dedication to achieve the best result. Training is the core in implementation of Six Sigma in an organisation. This methodology encourages and requires teams and its leaders to take responsibility for implementing the Six Sigma processes.
Features of Six Sigma
• A clear focus on achieving quantifiable financial returns from the particular implemented Six Sigma project
• A clear cut commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data
• Full support from top management
• A special support from trained personnel, namely Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Green Belts
Each of the people who are involved in implementing Six Sigma in the company is responsible and it varies according to their position.
Green Belts: They are the employees who are trained to implement the process and are supervised by black belts.
Black Belts: They contribute 100% of their time to make the Six Sigma program success and they operate under Master Black Belts. They are mainly involved in execution of the project and helping the green belts to reduce the defects and improve the quality of the operation or product.
Master Black Belts: They are involved in identifying the projects and they find solution to any troubles in the operation. They work under Champions Belts and supervise the Black Belts and Green Belts.
Champions Belts: They take the chief responsibility in implementation of Six Sigma projects in different divisions of the company. They act as mentors to Master Black Belts and coordinate the overall program.
Executive Leadership: Top management including CEO are responsible for setting up a vision for Six Sigma implementation.
There is Six Sigma institute giving training and certifying personnel with appropriate belts according to their knowledge and skills.
Six Sigma emphasis on the methodology named DMAIC (Define opportunity, Measure performance, Analyse opportunity, Improve performance, Control performance and Transfer best practice). The first of these (DMA) is the understanding of critical elements of the process. The last two I and C is a dynamic process optimisation. Motorola emphasise for Six Sigma to achieve breakthrough improvements in sustained and continuous timeframe, these process metrics and structured methodology must be practiced and linked to company’s strategies.
The rate of defects in the operations will determine the Sigma level offered to that organisation. If a company has only 3.4 defects for every million operations, it is operating at 99.9999998% level and earns Six Sigma. If there are 233 defects, it is Sigma 5 (99.98%) and when there are 6210 defects for every million operations it is Sigma Level 4 (99.4). Any company that is in Six Sigma program should try to be within these limits. Anything below this will earn lower Sigma levels.
There are some critics for Six Sigma program as they strictly quantitative and not taking any subjective details. As earlier said, Six Sigma was initially implemented only in manufacturing operations but later on were practiced in service operations also. Six Sigma uses statistical tool normal distribution to find the standard deviation between the process mean and the nearest specification limit to find whether the operation or product in normal or defective.
To achieve Six Sigma, organisations must focus and deploy all the resources and energy so that the key business priorities and strategy are aligned with the program’s objective. The personnel have to be trained to get the belts for implementing the Six Sigma program. Six Sigma has helped many companies to achieve their target and thereby reduce the cost and wastage and increase the profit.
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